Call of Duty: Modern Controversy

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” was released last week to a mass craze for fans and gamers across the country. However, what appears to be a near perfect first-person shooter turns out to have a mission in it making avid gamers, casual video players and others turn their stomachs inside out.

In a way, the mission is very simple. The player begins as a U.S. undercover agent disguised as a terrorist in order to get close to one of the main enemies in the game, Makarov, a terrorist.

Players of the game and people who were told about it have mixed feelings about a controversial mission.

The first half takes place in an airport as Makarov’s group walks into a crowded airport and begin shooting civilians.In the second half, the player has to fight his or her way through police to get to the get-away van, but as soon as you get there the player’s character gets shot as Makarov discovered the player’s real identity.

The game developers, however, included a warning the mission stating that players have the option to skip the mission. Skipping the mission will not affect the game play in any way.

Samantha Polizzi, a freshman who has not played the game, said that, “In real life nothing merits killing civilians, but honestly it’s just a game and you need to be mature enough to realize it.”

Sophomore Kholood Qumei on the other hand was a little shocked on how violent the game is. She felt that the envelope was pushed further than it ever was with the release of this game, but also feels even more strongly that, “we’re being desensitized to violence.”

Freshman Andrew D’Uva felt differently.

“I think that the mission was necessary in order to complete the storyline,” D’Uva said. “They (CoD developers) asked the player if they wanted to play the level because it may be graphic, so they did give the option to avoid it.”

CJ Banks, a freshman and the lead writer for 360achievementguides.com, which help players complete video games to its entirety, first saw the game when his friend from home was playing it. The level in question “turned his stomach a little bit, but knew it had a meaning behind it.” As an avid gamer he can see where the developers were going with this mission.

“The name speaks for itself,” Banks said. “This is modern warfare. Nothing is sugarcoated and this is what we live in today. I was impressed that the developers just tell it how it is.”

There is a general consensus among critics and gamers that it is shocking and almost unreal that the developers included the mission, but developers did warn players that there is a troubling scene in the game that might be offensive. Others argue the point that it is supposed to show more of today’s world and what could happen than games like “Halo” or “Gears of War.”